Tag Archives: Pinterest

Creating Searchable Social Media Profiles

When thinking about creating your Social Media profile there are two search possibilities you will want to consider. Google search and each of your social channels are the main areas you will want to maximize for profile search-ability. After all, you want people to find you, right?

Included here I’ll share some tips on where to use keywords in your social profiles to help make it easier for you to be found.

Let’s take a look at Google Search first.

Example Google Search | Geek Mom Media

Usually, but not always, there are 3 things you can control in a Google search result for your business or website, social profiles and pages. They are the title, URL of your page and last the description.

The first thing someone sees in a search result is the title. Generally it is recommended to keep your title between 50-60 characters in length for SEO page requirements.

Your URL will appear on the second line, below the title of search results. For social channels, the URL is normally listed as the social media domain, followed by your username.

Descriptions are generally taken from the meta name “description” in your page source and are limited to 155 characters in length. The description for Geek Mom Media reads: Geek Mom Media wants to help you succeed, in your small business, by doing the geek work so you don’t’ have to. Affordable rates for home based business.

Note: Google won’t index anything that isn’t publicly viewable, that means it must be available on your public profile. You will also need to be logged out completely to see what your profile or page looks like.

Let’s take a look at some specific Social Media Networks and how to best optimize your profiles.

Facebook Page

On a Facebook Page you’ll see something like this

Example: Google Search for Ford on Facebook

Search results on Google show the Facebook Page name, Location, number of likes, and number of people talking about the page.

The first option for a search for Cars will give you any page that listed Cars as a subcategory, main brand or product category associated with the page shown in the drop-down menu. Should you press enter after your search vs reviewing the drop-down you’ll notice options for search results under the menu:

Top, Latest, People, Photos, Videos, Pages, Places, and More

Example: Search for Cars on Facebook

Tip: Local Business Owner pages will appear under Places based on proximity to the person searching and your page category. Be sure to place your keyword in the subcategory.

Key Points: Where possible include a keyword in your Page’s name and be sure to include keywords in your page’s subcategory.

Twitter Profile

Most Twitter profiles in a Google search will include your profile name, username (@username), number of followers, number of photos, videos and number of tweets. Occasionally you’ll see one that pulls the bio or lists the username (@username), URL and a couple of your latest tweets.

Example: Ford’s listing for Twitter on Google

Tip:Look to see what your profile is actually pulling from Twitter before proceeding to change your bio and including keywords.

Again, Google will rank keyword searches higher for names and @usernames that include that keyword. The example we’ve been using is “cars”

Example: Search for cars on Google

When searching on the Twitter network, profiles related to the keyword will appear in your results. They do not need to be included in the name, bio or username of the account.

Key Points: Include any keyword in your name or @username where possible if you want to appear in Google searches for that keyword. To appear in searches done via the Twitter network include those keywords in text content; it doesn’t hurt to also include it in your name , bio and @username.

Linked In

Once again, when you include a primary keyword in the Company name of your page you may rank higher in a Google and LinkedIn searches.

Key Point: Where possible include a primary keyword in your Company listed page name.

Instagram

Profile name, @username and bio are used in a Google search result.

Tip: Including primary keywords in your bio can help to increase your results.

Pinterest

Profile name and description are used in a Google search result.

Tip: Include primary keywords in your name and description can help to increase your results. Boards with primary keywords will also appear higher in search results.

Final Take Away

Knowing the general semantics of how profiles and pages work in major social networks can help your search rankings. When configuring your other Social Network accounts, use the same type of logic. In looking at Google+ and YouTube, both being optimized via Google will place higher in a Google search when a primary keyword is included in the page name or channel name. When naming uploads for YouTube include primary keywords in video names as well.

Tip: It is kind of a no-brainer, but many times it’s not possible to include a keyword in your name or username because of your specific branding needs. Including them in your bio, first paragraph and other text can help.

Have you looked through all the help files and settings on your favorite Social Media Channels? Probably not, or if you did back when you signed up there were probably so many things it was a little mind boggling.

There are really great features that you may have overlooked or were going to check out but may have forgotten about entirely.

Check them out, see which of the 30+ I’ve listed you may have forgotten about or which ones have gone entirely unnoticed.

Forgotten Facebook Features

Save links for later reading

When looking at stories in your newsfeed, you’ll find options under the drop-down menu in the upper right corner. One of these is the “Save” option, which According to Facebook, is for links, places, music, books, movies, TV shows and events. Not included are photos or plain text updates.

“Save” also shows up on pages. Select “Save Link” from the drop-down button in the upper right of the story or save a Page, for later review, by selecting “Save” from the more (“…”) option on the top right corner next to Like, Share.

To Friend or Follow?

Here’s how it works: If the person has this feature turned on you’ll see a “Follow” button to click, along with an “Add Friend” option.

Following someone means you will see their posts in your news feed, just as you would if you were friends. What’s the difference? They don’t need to accept your friend request.

Simply go to your Facebook settings, and then turn on the follow feature in your profile. From the left menu, select Followers, and change the settings from “Friends” to “Everybody”. If you need further assistance, check out Facebooks Help page.

Post to Page Timeline

Did you know others can post to your page? By tagging your name in an update these posts show up in the sidebar on your page.

Be sure to watch what is being posted, you may find customer service opportunities, be able to engage with others when someone mentions you and don’t forget to watch for spam. Who knows, you may find something you want to re-share.

Sidebar Element Order

You can rearrange the order of the sidebar elements on your page. The top spots are reserved for People and About, but other sections can be dragged and dropped into any order you choose.

The pencil icon will appear when you hover over any section in the menu.

Advanced stats for any post

Have you ever noticed the “# people reached” link at the bottom of your posts?

Have you ever clicked on it?

These insights show you all sorts of cool stats like the breakdown of likes, comments, and shares.

Other forgotten useful features

Did you know you have a Facebook eMail Address? You can email me at [email protected], and the message will come straight to my regular eMail account. Your Facebook email is your username on Facebook, plus @facebook.com.

Download a copy of your Facebook data! From your settings page, you can click the “Download a copy” link at the bottom.

Did you know you can attach a file to a Facebook Message? When you’ve got an open message window open, click on the gear icon and choose the “Add Files…” option.

Surprise Messages from Others. When clicking your message page, you’ll see the default view of your latest inbox view. Notice on the top menu “Inbox” and “Other” if there is a number beside it you have unread messages from someone on Facebook.

Do you want a specific message to appear at the top of your Business Page timeline? You can Pin a post to the top. Click the drop down arrow in the top, right corner of any of your page posts, and choose “Pin to Top.”

Forgotten Twitter Features

Creating collections via Tweetdeck

Collections are made possible using Twitter’s own Tweetdeck, a free management dashboard tool. You can create custom timelines, containing what you want to see, for multiple accounts.

Who’s in this photo?

When you add a new photo to a tweet, you can tag up to 10 people who are in the photo — and these tags won’t count against your 140 characters.

Here’s where the tagging option appears on a desktop. The feature is also on mobile.

Photo Collages and Twitter Images

You can include up to 4 images when composing a tweet. Simply click on the “Media” link to make a photo collage.

Here is a quick example of what a collage will look like:

Twitter for Mobile

You can perform certain actions, like following a user or marking a friend’s update as a favorite, by using designated Twitter commands via SMS. There are various SMS options on Twitter should you want to read more.

Here are a few popular ones:

D [username] + message — sends that person a Direct Message that goes to their device, and saves in their web archive.

WHOIS [username] — retrieves the profile information for any public user on Twitter. Example whois jack or w jack, for short.

FOLLOW [username]: allows you to start following a specific user, as well as receive SMS notifications. Example: FOLLOW jerry or F jerry for short.

Mute Feature

Should you want to manage your Twitter stream you can mute them rather than unfollowing someone. This can be helpful if you want things a bit quieter while others are participating in chats or tweet bursts.

Access from any tweet, click on the “…” (more) drop-down and choose “Mute” from the list. You can “unmute” a person, at a later time, by visiting their profile.

Pin to Tweet to Top of Profile

You can pin any tweet to the top of your Twitter feed by selecting “Pin to your profile page” from the “…” (more) link under the tweet.

Forgotten Google+ Features

Posting a G+ Poll

You can run a poll from a Google+ post. Click on the “Poll” button then ask your question in the body of the post, set multiple answers choices and add an optional photo.

Once published here is what your poll will look like.

Create an Empty Circle to save posts for future reference

Create a circle without anyone in it. This works great as a bookmarking tool or swipe file. Share posts to this empty circle then easily reference them later. All posts are added to your profile page and private, viewable only by you.

This also works great for your favorite services like Evernote or Pocket or email service. When you include your share email in the circle content saved will be automatically forwarded to you.

Linking a slideshow to your profile photo

You can control what appears when someone clicks on your profile photo. In the Photos menu, look for the Profile Photos collection, then add, edit, and arrange the photos.

Did you know you can also set a GIF as your profile or cover photo?

Forgotten Pinterest Features

Set up a secret board

Ideal for individuals planning vacations, dream weddings and surprise parties. A secret board is also great for seeding a new board before publishing for marketing purposes.

To create a secret board, click to create a new board and select secret in the options window.

Rearrange the order of your boards

You can arrange the order of your boards to your preference. Simply click and drag your boards into the order you’d like when on your profile page.

Note: The order of individual pins within a board cannot be changed.

See what has been pinned from your website (or others)

If you are interested in seeing what has been shared from your website or another website, you can type the following URL and add your domain name.

Type in: http://www.pinterest.com/source/domainname.com/.

Change the “domainname.com” to your blog’s address (or the blog address of a site you want to check).

Customize your cover images

Want your board to have a specific cover image? Click the “Edit” button at the bottom of the board then select “Change” cover. Scroll through the images and select the one you want to appear. You can even move the image around to get the best look on your board.

Collaborate with friends

When you click the Edit button at the bottom of your board, you’ll have the option to set others up as collaborators. Type in a name or email address and an email invitation will be sent. Anyone you set can then add pins directly to your group board.

Forgotten Instagram Features

Where to view Instagram photos online

You can view any user’s Instagram feed online at instagram.com/username. Also, you can see your home page feed by logging in at instagram.com.

Add a border to your image

In addition to Instagram filters, you can also add borders to your image. Via the app, choose the filter first, and then tap the filter again to reveal a box icon you can tap to add a border.

Instagram 3rd Party Helpers

How to create a collage

Have you noticed the creative collages other people post and wondered how they do that? Check out these apps which will help get your creative juices going.

See an image, photo or quote you want to repost?

Choose from your home stream or images you have favorited. Many apps have a paid version which will allow you to remove attribution overlays on the photos. Play nice and give attribution in the description using @username and hashtags where appropriate.

Bonus: LinkedIn Tips

Download a list of your connections

Download your contacts into a spreadsheet. Various formats, such as CSV are available. You’ll get a full list of your connections, including their name, current title, current company name, and email address.

Click on “Connections” on the top menu at LinkedIn, and then click the gear icon that appears in the top, right corner of your connections page. In the Advanced Settings panel select “Export LinkedIn Connections”.

Message someone you’re not connected with on LinkedIn

If you want to get in touch with someone on LinkedIn but you have yet to make the one-to-one connection, you can try this workaround. Look in their profile at the groups they belong to, and then join a common group.

Group members can message each other even without a direct connection. Locate the person in the group members section, and you’ll see an option to “Send message” in the box to the right of their photo.

Create a Relationship notes and reminders

Under each connected profile sits the option to add relationship notes — how you met, reminder notices, and other important context.

The reminder notices are a particularly helpful because you can set alerts for any contact. If you click the recurring option, you could set up a reminder to call or follow-up with the person on a weekly, monthly or custom basis. The relationship panel is private so only you see what you have set.

Pinterest is the last of the major Social Media sites that many business have a presence on, that I will cover in this series. With 270 Million unique users each month it is a great place to post visual content to reach your target audience. Approximately 85% of the users on Pinterest are female, with 42% being adult females. If that is your target market, it’s a great place to be! It’s very easy to setup and use for posting visual content.

There are both personal and business accounts available on Pinterest and you can actually have both if you prefer. Should you choose to simplify and already have a personal account you can request to have it converted to a business account, or they may actually send you an invitation by email. The primary difference between the accounts is Analytics and Rich Pins. I won’t go into detail here about rich pins, you can read more in the help section on Pinterest, but they offer more options with your pins.

After creating your account you’ll want to create “boards”, where each would have a different keyword focus. You can however pin one image to multiple boards if that is something that makes sense. Some of the more popular topics and boards on Pinterest are how-to-guides, DIY crafts and recipes. Boards are also a great place to get ideas for your own content and insight into what people are interested in. Build connection and relationships over shared interests through the multiple boards you have or you visit. Learn what inspires people and gain insight into the things you can share. Pinterest makes it easy to engage with your customers, clients & friends through a variety of topics like hobbies, crafts, DIY, cookery, interiors, beauty and fashion.

Tips, Tricks & Suggestions

As with all #Social Media channels make sure you complete your profile and the profile header for each board you create, this will help showcase your personality. Don’t forget to include your website and complete the verification process where possible. I would suggest taking some time to research various boards by reviewing what your friends and industry are doing to get ideas of how you would like to organize your pins. This is flexible and changeable so you don’t need to spend a lot of time, just enough to get some ideas on how you want to proceed. Engage with other users by commenting, liking or sharing relevant pins to your own boards, others will begin to reciprocate

When designing your website or blog, make certain you include plenty of images and a “pin it button” so others can easily share what they like. This will also create back-links from Pinterest to your site and help drive more traffic to your site. Statistics have shown that product images pinned with a price are more effective and have a better click through rates. Be sure to include a Call To Action in the description if applicable too!

Remember: When pinning a image you can edit the link information to redirect to your website if needed.

If you’d like to see what people are pinning from a specific website or from your website or blog you can easily find this information by entering the following: